


On the Trail

by Aithilin



Series: First Meetings [12]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff, M/M, New Friendship, Nostalgia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 05:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10678839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/pseuds/Aithilin
Summary: Libertus liked to escape the city sometimes, even if he can't actually leave the Wall. He didn't expect Noctis to do the same.





	On the Trail

Despite its size and the population, the Crown City didn’t have much to actually do by way of outdoors entertainment. There were huge, dedicated gyms throughout the city— dedicated spaces for safe rock climbing, for safe mock camps, for the mock-up of everything Libertus had once enjoyed. He remembered the way he could just step outside his door back in Galahd and have a forest right there— the way he and Nyx used to play like idiots in the river when they were kids. He remembered the ability to just step outside and breath. To see mountains right there, capped in ice and green everywhere else.

He remembered the wilds of his home, and missed those the most. 

There was something infectious about the city— about the thriving, noisy chaos that took him away from memories of Nif ships dropping MTs on their heads. The teemed with the promise that there was still an abundance of life in the world, after seeing so much death in his home and in the servitude of a king who hadn’t really helped them in the last ten years. 

But there was nothing green. Not in the same way he remembered. 

The closest he got was a morning run in the local park before he had to get to the Glaives HQ and sign in. Where he could follow the manicured paths and— for a very brief moment, if he closed his eyes— pretend that the rising sun pushing its way through the leaves and the rush of moving water was just like being back home. 

And if he was lucky enough to have the energy on a day off, maybe make his way out to the large patches of green that were left mostly wild near the more peaceful sections of the Wall. Make his way to where the agricultural grounds pushed the older tress and protected green spaces up against the Lucis barrier. 

There, out where he could barely hear the city life, where he could pretend that the trails weren’t maintained by landscapers on a daily basis, Libertus found a reminder of home as he started at a jog and moved on to just a hike. 

Few Lucians ever seemed to venture out this far— this far away from their beloved city. Libertus enjoyed the peace. He usually took a breather by whatever water he could find, settling on the grass, and watching the fish jump. 

“Your highness?” Libertus had been making his way to the familiar water when he spotted Noctis on a pier, settling down on the wood with a line in the water. “What are you doing here?”

It had been a week since their ‘fresh start’— their little do-over as Nyx called it— in the lobby of the Glaive HQ. A week of Libertus and Noct edging around each other with greetings and smiles, and “let’s try this again” hanging between them like a bridge. 

He was still surprised when the prince smiled at him in greeting, looking more at ease here by the water than Libertus had ever seen him without Nyx by his side. “Libertus.”

“You fish?”

“I fish,” he knew that tone now, that little tease to the prince’s voice. “I thought that’d be obvious.”

Libertus knew the tone, knew when to spot the good mood, “Wasn’t sure you knew what tackle was, honestly. Since when do you come out here?”

Noct turned back to the water, even as Libertus approached. “Years. As often as I can. You?”

“As often as I can. Hiking for me.”

There was no real invitation between them for this, no real precedent— they almost never ran into each other without Nyx nearby or one of them on duty of some sort. But Libertus had a habit to keep, and they had agreed before to at least make the attempt to be friendly. So Libertus sat next to the pier, on the soft grass, where he could watch the ripples on the water as Noctis reeled in his line and recast. 

“What’s in there?”

“Bass, mostly. Maybe a grouper from the lake. Nothing too interesting,” Noct turned a bit to look Libertus over. “How’s the hike going?”

“Nothing like Galahd,” the Glaive offered; “No hills or real challenge. But the green is nice. And it can feel close.”

“What’s Galahd like? Nyx won’t talk about it much.”

The question surprised him— he assumed that Nyx would talk about home, about the islands and their little hometown nestled at the foot of the mountains. He assumed the prince had access to information like this; “You never looked it up?”

Noct was reeling in his line again, nothing taking the bait, and shifting until he could face Libertus properly. He rested the rod across his crossed legs, let the lure drip off the end of the pier to send ripples out to the curious fish. “I did, but I’d rather hear it from you, if that’s okay. You actually lived there.”

Libertus leaned back at that, thought the answer through, turned the words over. The kid had some sense at least. He let himself remember the little town he had loved. The forest, the river, the way he and Nyx would head out to those wilds as often as they could, usually with Crowe to keep them from doing something too stupid. He let himself remember the beaches he had only saw a few times a year— the expanse of ocean he had once crossed out of necessity. He let himself remember the old forest and the way the paths turned rocky before they turned into cliffs to climb. And how the sun would dot the path, or barely reach the ground at all if they wandered too far off into the thick of the forest. 

He remembered his home, and when he brought himself out of his nostalgia— the longing for what he had lost, for what he was scared he might never see again— he realised that he had the prince’s full attention. Those blue eyes that almost reminded him of Nyx’s trained on him, as if not wanting to let any detail escape. 

“I can understand why you miss it.”

“Can you?” He hadn’t meant it to be a challenge, hadn’t meant to cause that little flinch in the prince; “Sorry, that came out wrong.”

“It’s fine,” Noct shook his head. He turned his attention back to the water and watched the shadows of the fish lurking beneath the surface— chasing ripples. “You’re right.”


End file.
